TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 319 



worms and larvae from the 

 ground; the bills of many being 

 covered with earth, etc." * * * 



These observations tally with 

 those stated above, and our lively 

 Texas cactus wren has been 

 known to me ever since boyhood 

 some fifty years ago, when then, 

 living on a farm, near Boerne. 



The principle home of this wren 

 'specie however, is the immense 

 cactus plains and brush thickets 

 of Southwestern Texas. Occa- 

 sionally, but rarely, these lively 

 cactus birds also build their large 



nest in some thorny bush or on a 

 mesquite tree ; and I here met one 

 of them, years ago, in the thorny 

 agarita bushes, close to Mitchell's 

 lake, and also twice located in a 

 large Spanish dagger plant. 



When close to dwellings, they 

 are quite tame, and, if not molest- 

 ed during nestling time the young 

 brood will return annually and en- 

 liven the surrounding territory. 

 Several such breeding nests can 

 be found in the cactus thickets 



south of San Antonio, close to 

 Mexican dwellings, and some of 

 them directly on the road, inside 

 an artificial cactus fence, leading 

 to the Espada Mission. In front of 

 AMexican dwelling, several very 

 large cactus wren nests could be 

 seen, nearly as large as a bucket, 

 built between the thorny leaves, 

 and the inside broad-rotund cavi- 

 ty is snuggly outlined with soft 

 feathers and wool and parcels of 

 cotton. I once, at the romantic 

 Cassin's lake, met a beautyful 

 wren nest, entirely outlined with 

 the snow-v/hite cotton fibre; and 

 the outside entrance as well as the 

 thorny surroundings were covered 

 with remnants of the white cot^ 

 ton-bolls of an adjoining , cotton 

 field. 



A second illustration seen here- 

 in (a "self-made" photo) shows 

 one of the cactus thickets with 

 wren nests, located close to the 

 "canvas-back lake," nine miles 

 below San Antonio, and near the 

 jungles of cacti the previous view 

 .was taken. 



